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"Similar to post-game analysis for professional athletes, medicalresponders were able to learn from their past resuscitation performance andapply this knowledge to future resuscitations," said Dr. Dana Edelson,director of Clinical Research for the Emergency Resuscitation Center at theUniversity of Chicago Medical Center, and co-investigator of the study. "Theresults of this study suggest that CPR performance review has broadapplicability for improving resuscitation training."
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Results drawn from medical professionals participating in theResuscitation with Actual Performance Integrated Debriefing (RAPID) trialswere published in the study, "Improving In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Process andOutcomes using Performance Debriefing." The Philips HeartStart MRx with Q-CPRMeasurement and Feedback was used to record resuscitation performance duringactual cardiac arrest events. Medical professionals then participated inweekly debriefing sessions to review transcripts from the prior week'sresuscitations and analyze CPR performance including chest compression rateand depth, ventilation rate, and undesired pauses in compressions.
Only in recent years has it been possible to measure CPR performance in aclinical setting. With its data collection and review capabilities, Q-CPRallows resuscitation leaders in hospitals to use valuable feedback from actualcardiac arrest cases to supplement classroom-based training methodologies forprofessional responders.
The trial results demonstrate that CPR performance quality improved forstudy participants who received post-resuscitation feedback compared to acontrol group of professionals who did not receive educational intervention.Specifically, the results show that:
In recent years, several studies documented that medical professionalswere performing poor CPR that deviated from consensus guidelines, despiterescuer training and certification.(1)(2)(3) These studies were a catalystfor the 2005 AHA Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and EmergencyCardiovascular Care to place a renewed emphasis on CPR training andeducation.(4) Yet, two years later, there is still a need for novel CPRtraining techniques to improve quality.
"As the trial demonstrates, balancing the correct number of breaths withthe exact depth and rate of chest compressions in real-life CPR performance isactually a very complex process with a high likelihood of human error," saidBenjamin S. Abella, M.D. MPhil, assistant professor, Department of EmergencyMedicine, University of Pennsylvania, and co-investigator of the study. "Afocused educational debriefing program using data provided by the HeartStartMRx with Q-CPR technology helps emergency responders deliver quality CPRconsistently, even in the most stressful and fast-paced environments."
Quality CPR and early defibrillation are inextricably linked -- thecombination is essential to increase the survival rate for victims of cardiacarrest. Q-CPR, available only on the Philips HeartStart MRxMonitor/Defibrillator, is the first and only comprehensive technologyintegrated into a monitor/defibrillator that provides real-time CPR monitoringand feedback for both chest compressions and ventilations (breaths). Thetechnology, developed by Philips and Laerdal, offers medical profe
